Statesman Journal

About Mah-Ann Mendoza

Motto: What you think is what you become Favorite candy: Milky Way chocolate bars Favorite type of food: Sushi Favorite recipe: Cheesy rolls, they are like cinnamon rolls, but made with tons of cheese Favorite pastimes: Walking in the park and catching up on movies Biggest regret: Not expressing how much her aunt Marina Mendoza meant to her while she was alive.

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Mah-Ann Mendoza grew up surrounded by strong women; it’s what helped her achieve both physical and mental strength in becoming a professional body builder and what helped her overcome a battle with cancer.

She was born and raised in the Philippines until the age of 17, when her mother decided to get a fresh start by moving her children to the Mid-Willamette Valley in 1976.

“It was hard at first,” Mendoza said. “But we were excited.”

Adjusting to life away from the “spoiled” lifestyle she said they had back home to living in Salem was difficult. In the Philippines, the family was affluent, and proper etiquette was always emphasized.

Once in the United States, her mother, Marilu, started from scratch. Not only was the financial situation much different, but the kids behaved and dressed differently. Mendoza didn’t know anyone, and the cultural differences were apparent. Especially surprising was how teenagers behaved in school. The gum chewing, feet on the tables and casual dress was not something she had seen in her all-girls Catholic school.

“I had to start over and adapt,” she said.

A year and a half after they arrived, Mendoza graduated from South Salem High School and got her first job at a restaurant.

“It was weird going from being served to serving,” she said. “I cried (once).”

But she stayed with it, eventually going from hostess to waitress. She didn’t realize the value of her new experiences until she went back to the Philippines and saw her best friend.

“She was still being served,” she said, adding that her friend wouldn’t even get a glass of water for herself.

Independence was growing on her, and in her early 20s she went to work with her mother at the Oregon Department of Transportation Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division.

She also started taking classes at Chemeketa Community College and was teaching aerobics part time. She was known as the aerobics queen and her figure was lean and dainty.

In 1990, her physical aspirations took a turn.

She saw a book featuring Rachel McLish, who won the inaugural Ms. Olympia bodybuilding title in 1980.

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“I saw that look and I thought, ‘I want to look like her,’ ” Mendoza said. “She was the beginning of my bodybuilding career.”

Her decision was further solidified when she went to watch the Emerald Cup, a yearly bodybuilding competition, in Washington. Her thoughts were that she wanted to return and win — and she did. She competed at the amateur level through National Physique Committee competitions.

But being an amateur at anything was simply not in her nature. Mendoza wanted to excel in the sport. She wanted better. She climbed from amateur to regional to the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness professional league, where she continued to compete and win.

While she was thriving in the sport, she was also dealing with backlash from people criticizing her choice.

“It’s a lot of ignorance,” she said.

Throughout the years she would post competition photos online and receive some harsh reactions.

“Someone would say, ‘That is so disgusting,’ ” she said. “People just like to judge.”

But Mendoza didn’t let it phase her. Growing up, her mother taught her not to seek validation from anyone. And Mendoza found the sport liberating; it became a creative outlet.

“Knowing that I do not need to conform enabled me to be creative. From creating a strong foundation to a solid structure,” she said.

She knew going into it that she would look different, and she didn’t want to look like everybody else. Until then she had the lean physique of an aerobics instructor.

“I was burned out teaching aerobics and wanted something outside of the norm, something people are not willing to do,” she said. “I like the athletic look; I love looking strong.”

At peak competition for bodybuilding, her 5-feet-2 inch frame weighed about 132 pounds with a mere 5 percent body fat. The percentage of normal body fat for average women is in the 20s range.

Through the years of working toward her goal of shaping her body and building muscle mass for the sport, Mendoza also was dealing with cancer.

She was first diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, a cancerous tumor of the smooth muscle cells that formed in her abdomen, in the 1980s when she was in her early 20s.

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What got her through was her positive attitude, healthy habits and support from family and friends.

“If it’s going to happen, if I’m going to die I’m going to die, but I’m still going to walk, cook, eat healthy things,” she said of the initial diagnosis.

She refused to feed into the fear.

She has had four surgeries to remove the returning tumor since the cancer was discovered.

In 2010, she said she had her last surgery and opted for chemotherapy to try to eliminate the chances of its return. She hadn’t chosen chemo before because of the side effects, but she was advised the cancer could come back and sooner.

She is going on three years of being in remission.

Mendoza retired from professional bodybuilding in 2011, but fitness is still very much a part of her life. She maintains her fitness regimen, but is no longer trying to gain muscle.

“I’m a lot smaller now,” she said.

She is also dedicated to helping others achieve their fitness goals and break down the excuses that often hinder people from getting fit through her business Mah-Ann’s Pro Fitness in Keizer.

There, the walls are lined with the success stories of some of her clients and some of her competition photos.

Judgment still trickles in.

On occasion when she gets a new female client, she said the husband will say: You aren’t going to look like that are you?

Again, she doesn’t pay it any mind. She simply reminds them there is a huge difference between professional bodybuilding and getting in shape.

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